Tanzania has very well laid out infrastructure for public transport, compared to her East African neighbours. For such a large country with population distributed in all regions, the need for public transport has always been critical for economic development. The regional bus terminals are well built and managed for the convenience of travellers, the best of which are bigger and better than airport terminals in many African cities.
The expanded Dar port is heavily congested with ships waiting many days for docking, that is expected to change soon, as Dubai port operator DP World has just started managing it. The Dar – Dodoma intercity electric SGR train has been completed and is in the final phase of testing, it will be extended in future to provide access to neighbouring countries as well. The train stations look just amazing if I may say, with the Dar terminal designed to look like a blue Tanzanite mineral gem.
However my focus is on road transport and specifically the BRT system. Dar BRT or DART was first rolled out in 2016 after 9 years of planning and construction. It currently has 240 Golden Dragon high capacity buses in operation covering about 200 km around the city through a network of terminals, trunk stations & feeder stations. More BRT infrastructure is under construction and another 170 buses are expected to be added to the fleet in about two years time. The BRT lanes are well separated from regular vehicle lanes except at places like junctions where they interact.
The fares are quite affordable, for example I travelled 35 km from Dar to Kibaha for a one way fare Tsh 1500 or Ksh 80 or USD 60 cents. Some of the documented benefits of DART include cutting a 20 km three-hour journey to 45 minutes; reducing car usage and emissions; and providing affordable, inclusive and safe travel for more than 8 million residents. Compared to the traditional Dala dala buses, the BRT has also reduced the risk for other road users particularly for cyclists and pedestrians.
Some challenges for DART include being operated by the government, a measure taken to side step the unending tender wars between various private sector players. While such a large infrastructure project requires political goodwill to take off, sustainability lies in incorporating the right public private partnerships because governments are limited in the scale and specialization they can offer for commercial services. The Nairobi BRT project under the Nairobi Metropolitan Authority has never taken off because of lacking the political goodwill, often facing opposition from a matatu industry that felt sidelined at the onset.
The Dar BRT also has an overcrowding issue that may discourage the feeble, vulnerable or selective passengers from using it. Lastly, how amazing it would be if the DART buses were not diesel but electric, hopefully that day is not too far away.
DAR BRT
